Football News -
At AFC Cup 2008

Group B - Matchday 2
East Bengal bt Ahli Sana'a, Yemen 1-0

Goal Scored - Edmilson Marques Pardal 34'

Group A - Matchday 2
Dempo SC l Sur Club, Oman 2-3

Goal Scored - Daouda Traore (SC) 9', Mamoudou Camara (SC) 69', Climax Lawrence (DSC) 80' (og) and Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 26', Roberto Mendes Silva (DSC) 62'

So with that East Bengal scored their first victory in group match of AFC Cup.

But heartbreaking loss to Dempo in closely fought away match against Oman club ... Winner came for Oman Club as own goal from Climax Lawrence in 80th minute.
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Tennis News -
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)/ Nicolas Kiefer (GER) 63 63

Another easy victory for Mark and Hesh.
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At $50K(+H) San Luis Potosi Challenger, Mexico (clay)

[R1] AMRITRAJ Prakash (IND,271) l KUZNETSOV Alex (US,267) 46 46

Doubles -
[R1] Mustafa Ghouse (IND)/ Rajeev Ram (USA) vs Hugo Armando (USA)/ Patrick Briaud (USA)
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Egypt F1 futures, Cairo (clay)

[R1] RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) l TRAYKOV Ivaylo (BUL,506) 06 36

One-sided loss for Karan ... :(
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Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France

Monday March 17 Round III

Blindfold Chess -
Mamedyarov-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Anand 1/2-1/2
Leko-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Aronian-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Karjakin 1-0
Van Wely-Ivanchuk 1/2-1/2

Rapid Chess -
Kramnik-Mamedyarov 0-1
Anand - Topalov 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Leko 0-1
Gelfand-Aronian 1-0
Karjakin-Carlsen 1-0
Ivanchuk-Van Wely 0-1

Yesterday in third round, Anand battled hard against Topalov to draw his Blindfold game in 59 moves ... They also played 47 moves draw in Rapid.

But Aronian and Ivanchuk lost their Rapid games after drawing Blindfolds ... So now Anand is sole leader in combined standing with 1/2 pt after 3rd round.

Today Anand is playing against Leko with white-pieces in Blindfold and with black-pieces in Rapid.

Tennis News -
At $25K Noida Challenger, India

Singles First Round -
(Q) Nudnida LUANGNAM (THA,372) bt (LL) Sonal Phadke (IND,749) 60 61
(Q) Montinee TANGPHONG (THA,461) bt (WC) Poojashree VENKATESHA (IND,UNR) 61 64
Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK,294) bt Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN,350) 61 64
Anastasija SEVASTOVA (LAT,268) bt (8) Magda MIHALACHE (ROU,256) 36 63 75

(4) Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA,181) bt Isha LAKHANI (IND,353) 63 63
(Q) Aniko KAPROS (HUN,523) bt Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS,295) 60 63
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND,566) bt Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE,281) 61 3-1 Retd
(Q) Vlada EKSHIBAROVA (UZB,398) bt (6) Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE,229) 36 64 76(3)

(5) Naomi CAVADAY (GBR,191) bt (WC) Parija MALOO (IND,692) 61 63
(Q) Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA,718) bt (PR) Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU,429) 64 26 60
Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ,318) bt Carmen KLASCHKA (GER,309) 60 67(4) 63
(3) Margit RUUTEL (EST,180) bt (Q) Lisa SABINO (ITA,379) 63 64

(7) GUMULYA Sandy (INA,245) bt (Q) Kristina ANTONIYCHUK (UKR,389) 63 64
(Q) Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN,380) bt (WC) Ankita BHAMBRI (IND,542) 61 64
Teodora MIRCIC (SRB,282) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN,359) 61 61
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND,175) bt Neha UBEROI (USA,345) 60 62

Doubles First Round -
(Q) Yayuk BASUKI (INA)/ Romana TEDJAKUSUMA (INA) bt (1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) 16 62 10(6)
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND) bt (WC) Nicola MOONEY (GBR)/ Sonal PHADKE (IND) 62 61

(3) Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) bt (Q) Sandy GUMULYA (INA)/ Nicole ROTTMANN (AUT) 64 26 10(5)
(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN)/ Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN) 62 36 10(4)

Isha LAKHANI (IND)/ Ayaka MAEKAWA (JPN) bt Cagla BUYUKAKCAY (TUR)/ Pemra OZGEN (TUR) 75 60
(4) Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Ji-Young KIM (KOR)/ So-Jung KIM (KOR) 75 63

Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)/ Carmen KLASCHKA (GER) bt Montinee TANGPHONG (THA)/ Varatchaya WONGTEANCHAI (THA) 64 26 10(8)
Ksenia PALKINA (KGZ)/ Anastasia POLTORATSKAYA (RUS) bt (2) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) 63 26 10(8)
-------------------------------------------
At $10K India F3 Futures, Mumbai

Singles First Round -
Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI.1072) bt (1) Bogdan-Victor LEONTE (ROU,498) 62 75
(Q) Vijayant MALIK (IND,1315) bt (Q) Ronak MANUJA (IND,NR) 62 62
(WC) Harsh MANKAD (IND,1289) bt (LL) Ajai SELVARAJ (IND,1408) 62 62
(8) Navdeep SINGH (IND,712) bt (Q)Ye DU (CHN,1502) 62 63

(4) Nathan THOMPSON (USA,638) bt Elbert SIE (INA,713) 61 60
Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND,1053) bt Vijay KANNAN (IND,727) 63 62
(Q)Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB,NR) bt (Q)Rupesh ROY (IND,1098) 64 75
Vaja UZAKOV (UZB,820) bt (7) Sarvar IKRAMOV (UZB,704) 36 64 63

(Q) Ryan YOUNG (USA,NR) bt (6) Aditya MADKEKAR (IND,672) 63 64
John MCGAHON (IRL,922) bt (WC) Prajnesh GUNNESWARAN (IND,NR) 67(5) 76(5) 62
Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN,1016) bt (Q) Rohan GIDE (IND,1408) 60 46 64
Purav RAJA (IND,874) bt (3) Aqeel KHAN (PAK,547) 64 62

(5) Divij SHARAN (IND,657) bt (Q) Kamala KANNAN (IND,1502) 61 62
(WC) Rohan GAJJAR (IND,893) bt Vishnu VARDHAN (IND,976) 62 63
Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA,1039) bt Danila ARSENOV (RUS,785) 36 64 76(3)
(2) Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR,509) bt Vivek SHOKEEN (IND,716) 57 62 63

Doubles First Round -
Harsh MANKAD (IND)/ Ranjeet VIRALI-MURUGESAN (IND) bt (1) Bogdan-Victor LEONTE (ROU)/ Navdeep SINGH (IND) 63 63
Vijay KANNAN (IND)/ Vinod SRIDHAR (IND) bt Katsushi FUKUDA (JPN)/ Sarvar IKRAMOV (UZB) 62 60

(3) Rupesh ROY (IND)/ Vivek SHOKEEN (IND) bt (WC) Mithun MURALI (IND)/ Srirambalaji NARAYANASWAMY (IND) 62 57 10(2)
Harshana GODAMANNE (SRI)/ Kirati SIRIBUTWONG (THA) bt Kamala KANNAN (IND)/ Aqueel KHAN (PAK) 63 63

Divij SHARAN (IND)/ Vishnu VARDHAN (IND) bt (WC) Nitten KIRRTANE (IND)/ Sandeep KIRTANE (IND) 64 63
(4) Rohan GAJJAR (IND)/ Purav RAJA (IND) bt (WC) Rifat BIKTYAKOV (UZB)/ Ronak MANUJA (IND) 63 64

John MCGAHON (IRL)/ Ciaran MOORE (RSA) bt Rohan GIDE (IND)/ Ajai SELVARAJ (IND) 67(4) 6- 11(9)
(2) Danila ARSENOV (RUS)/ Vaja UZAKOV (UZB) bt Hyun-Woo NAM (KOR)/ NELORD (IND) 76(4) 64

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R3] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) bt (9) Shahar Peer (ISR,18) 67(7) 75 63

[R4] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs (5) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK,8)

Doubles -
[QF] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs (2) Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/ Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)

Impressive comeback win ... Good to see she dig deep to scored win over Shahar ... This was her 3rd consecutive win over Shahar, Sania leading their career meeting 3-1 .. As expected US hard-courts already favoring her game which showing in the results.

So now big match against Daniela in R4 of singles and doubles quarters against 2nd seed Taiwanian pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) bt Christopher Kas (GER)/ Rogier Wassen (NED) 63 76(3)

[R2] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) bt Guillermo Canas (ARG)/ David Nalbandian (ARG) 75 26 10(5)

[R2] (6) Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/ Mark Knowles (BAH) vs Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)/ Nicolas Kiefer (GER)

[QF] (8) Paul Hanley (AUS)/ Leander Paes (IND) vs (3) Daniel Nestor (CAN)/ Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)

Good start for Hesh and Mark, now they will face singles specialist in second round.

I m happy for Lee and Paul's consecutive wins ... More matches they play, they will be settle as a pair ... Hoping their magical performance against strong experienced pair of Zimo and Nestor in quarters.

Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France

This time 12 leading grandmasters (8 GMs from top 10 list and 11 GMs from top 15 list) playing blindfold and rapid chess games for highest prize money of 216,000 Euro (US $336,000).
Also venue is changed from Monaco to the beautiful French seaside resort of Nice.

Participants of the 2008 Amber Rapid and Blindfold Tournament -
1. Vladimir Kramnik - Russia (Elo 2799)
2. Viswanathan Anand - India (Elo 2799)
3. Veselin Topalov - Bulgaria (Elo 2780)
4. Alexander Morozevich - Russia (Elo 2765)
5. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Azerbaijan (Elo 2760)
6. Peter Leko - Hungary (Elo 2753)
7. Vasily Ivanchuk - Ukraine (Elo 2751)
8. Levon Aronian – Armenia (Elo 2739)
9. Boris Gelfand - Israel (Elo 2737)
10. Magnus Carlsen – Norway (Elo 2733)
11.Sergey Karjakin - Ukraine (Elo 2732)
12. Loek van Wely – The Netherlands (Elo 2681)

Saturday March 15 Round I

Blindfold Chess -
Anand-Kramnik 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Topalov-Leko 1-0
Gelfand-Karjakin 0-1
Aronian-Van Wely 1/2-1/2
Carlsen-Ivanchuk 0-1

Rapid Chess -
Kramnik-Anand 0-1
Morozevich-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2
Leko-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Karjakin-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Aronian 0-1
Ivanchuk-Carlsen 1/2-1/2

In the first round Anand started with bang beating Kramnik in 42 moves in Rapid event, before that they agreed draw in 23 moves in Blindfold event.

Sunday March 16 Round II

Blindfold Chess -
Ivanchuk-Gelfand 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Carlsen 0-1
Karjakin-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Kramnik-Leko 1/2-1/2
Morozevich -Topalov 1-0
Anand-Mamedyarov 1/2-1/2

Rapid Chess -
Gelfand-Ivanchuk 0-1
Carlsen-Van Wely 1-0
Aronian-Karjakin 1-0
Leko-Kramnik 0-1
Topalov-Morozevich 1-0
Mamedyarov-Anand 0-1

Anand continued with his good form in Rapid scoring another victory over Mamedyarov in 42 moves but again managed to draw in 46 moves in Blindfold.

Standings Blindfold after 2 round -
1. Ivanchuk 1½
Karjakin 1½
Morozevich 1½
2. Anand 1
Aronian 1
Carlsen 1
Kramnik 1
Mamedyarov 1
Topalov 1
3. Gelfand ½
Leko ½
Van Wely ½

Standings Rapid after 2 round -
1. Anand 2
Aronian 2
2. Carlsen 1½
Ivanchuk 1½
Topalov 1½
3. Kramnik 1
4. Gelfand ½
Karjakin ½
Leko ½
Mamedyarov ½
Morozevich ½
5. Van Wely 0

Combined Standing after 2nd round -
1. Anand 3
Aronian 3
Ivanchuk 3
2. Carlsen 2½
Topalov 2½
3. Karjakin 2
Kramnik 2
Morozevich 2
4. Mamedyarov 1½
5. Gelfand 1
Leko 1
6. Van Wely ½

Today in third round Anand playing with black-pieces against Topalov in Blindfold and with white-pieces in Rapid.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R2] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/ Anastasia Rodionova (RUS) 62 46 10(7)

So with this super tie-break win Sania and Bethanie in doubles quarters.
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Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,

[F] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) l (1) Ruud Bosch (NED)/ Koen Ridder (NED) 19-21 20-22

[F] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Carl Baxter (ENG,103) 21-15 21-3

Another final and another Internationals title for Anand ... In his recent interview Prakash Padukone predicted Anand Pawar will be next player to watch and Anand is responding to his faith giving results though on lower level tournaments ... But then to get entry in to higher level tournaments he need to dominate these tournaments and I think this is only begining for him.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Final Standing (EPGA Tour)

2 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 64 66 -24 $341,352.00
T11 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 70 67 -11 $ 52,944.00
T57 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 74 70 PAR $ 9,216.00

Jeev lost another golden opportunity of ending his title draught ... Frankly wild shot on 17th hole cost him title as then he gave chance to McDowell and lost in 3rd hole of play-off against Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell.

Though finishing 2nd is creditable performance but I m still feeling bad for Jeev's lost opportunity.

Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,

[QF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Jun Takemura (JPN,132) 18-21 21-16 21-16
[QF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt (5) Kevin Cordon (GUA,63) 11-21 21-14 21-14

[SF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt (4) Stephan Wojcikiewicz (CAN,65) 21-16 16-21 21-3
[SF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) l Carl Baxter (ENG,103) 15-21 18-21

[QF] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) l (4) Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Dean George (ENG) 18-21 21-19 14-21
[QF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Andrew Ellis (ENG)/ Chris Langridge (ENG) 21-19 14-21 21-17

[SF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt (3) Jorrit De Ruiter (NED)/ Jurgen Wouters (NED) 21-18 22-20

[F] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs (1) Ruud Bosch (NED)/ Koen Ridder (NED)

[F] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Carl Baxter (ENG,103)

Ajay scored another upset comeback win to move in to semis but his luck ended against Englishman Baxter.

But what last few weeks for Anand!!! He is now aiming for his second Internationals title ... He showed solid temperament to produce back to back tough 3 games win.

Rupesh and Sanave Thomas must be hoping for back to back titles.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M / $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R2] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) bt Olga Savchuk (UKR,96) 46 61 64

[R3] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs (9) Shahar Peer (ISR,18)

Doubles -
[R2] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/ Anastasia Rodionova (RUS)

[R1] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) bt FERRER David (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP) 63 64

[R2] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) vs Guillermo Canas (ARG)/ David Nalbandian (ARG)

So after losing first set Sania managed to turn table on Olga ... She needs more consistent performance against Shahar.

Good straight sets win for Lee and Paul ... Now they will face Argentine pair in second round.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India

Singles Final -
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) 26 63 62
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At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

[QF] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) l (1) MIDDELKOOP Matwe (NED,259) 26 16

These one-sided losses hurt ... Now interesting to see how he perform next 2 weeks on Egyptian clay.
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Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,

[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Edwin Ekiring (UGA,105) 21-12 21-9
[R2] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt P. Kashyap (IND,98) 21-18 8-21 23-21

[R2] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) l (Q) Xi Zhang (CHN,UNR) 21-16 9-21 17-21

[R2] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) bt Martin Kragh (DEN)/ Tore Villhelmsen (DEN) 21-11 21-17
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) bt Ricardo Fernandes (POR)/ Fernando Silva (POR) 21-12 21-16

[QF] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Jun Takemura (JPN,132)
[QF] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) vs (5) Kevin Cordon (GUA,63)

[QF] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs (4) Chris Adcock (ENG)/ Dean George (ENG)
[QF] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Andrew Ellis (ENG)/ Chris Langridge (ENG)

Anand is in quarters with easy victory ... Ajay continues with his giant killing and yesterday beat his senior team-mate Kashyap to moved into quarters.

Aditi couldn't handle unrank Chinese qualifier's challenge after wining first game ... Our doubles teams scored easy victory.
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Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Third Round (EPGA Tour)

T1 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 64 -18
T19 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 70 - 6
T60 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 74 + 2

Badminton News -
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,

[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,101) bt Andres Corpancho (PER,106) 21-17 21-13
[R1] P. Kashyap (IND,98) bt (Q) Lester Oey (NED,212) 21-23 22-20 21-14
[R1] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt (3) Simon Maunoury (FRA,62) 13-21 21-12 21-17
[R1] (Q) Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) l Rune Massing (NED,129) 13-21 12-21

[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) bt (8) Kristina Ludikova (CZE,66) 21-8 21-14
[R1] (7) Trupti Murgunde (IND,59) l Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc (VIE,79) 11-18 Retd.

[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) bt Miguel Jardim (POR)/ José P Sousa (POR) 21-10 21-7

[R2] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Edwin Ekiring (UGA,105)
[R2] P. Kashyap (IND,98) vs (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244)

[R2] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) vs (Q) Xi Zhang (CHN,UNR)

[R2] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) vs Martin Kragh (DEN)/ Tore Villhelmsen (DEN)
[R2] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs Ricardo Fernandes (POR)/ Fernando Silva (POR)

Huge comeback win for Ajay over top-65 Frenchman Simon Maunoury ... Anand and P. Kashyap starting to show more consistency in their results, though Kashyap snatched victory from jaws of defeat against Dutch qualifier ... Aditi scored easy victory against seeded player but facing tricky second round match against young unranked Chinese qualifier.

But feel sad for Trupti, who is still struggling with her long injury.
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Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - Second Round (EPGA Tour)

T2 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 66 -10
T19 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 72 - 4
T56 GHEI Gaurav 72 72 Par
------ Cut @ PAR ------
83 KAPUR Shiv 74 73 +3

Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel

[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) l (7) Taufik HIDAYAT (INA,7) 9-11 Retd.
[R2] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) l (1) Xingfang XIE (CHN,1) 13-21 10-21

Anup retired from the match ... Lets hope its not serious injury ... Otherwise that will be big setback for his Olympics preparation.

Saina gave decent performance to win 10 or more points in both games against Chinese WR #1.
-----------------------------------------------
At $5K 43rd Yonex Portuguese International Championships,

[Q1] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) bt Maxime Renault (FRA,469) 21-19 21-16
[Q1] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt Miguel Jardim (POR,UNR) 21-12 21-7

[Q2] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) Bye
[Q2] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) Bye

[Q3] Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) bt Jeppe Lund (DEN,280) 16-21 21-17 25-23
[Q3] Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) bt Fernando Silva (POR,UNR) 21-9 21-12

Maindraw -
[R1] Anand Pawar (IND,101) vs Andres Corpancho (PER,106)
[R1] P. Kashyap (IND,98) vs (Q) Lester Oey (NED,212)
[R1] (Q) Ajay Jayaram (IND,244) vs (3) Simon Maunoury (FRA,62)
[R1] (Q) Sagar Chopda (IND,UNR) vs Rune Massing (NED,129)

[R1] Aditi Mutatkar (IND,78) vs (8) Kristina Ludikova (CZE,66)
[R1] (7) Trupti Murgunde (IND,59) vs Nguyen Nhung Le Ngoc (VIE,79)

[R1] Akshay Dewalkar (IND)/ Diju V. (IND) vs Miguel Jardim (POR)/ José P Sousa (POR)
[R1] (2) Rupesh Kumar (IND)/ Sanave Thomas (IND) Bye

Good decent couple of wins for young Sagar Chopda.
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Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India

Singles Semi-Finals -
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) 61 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) 64 06 75

Doubles Final -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) 26 62 10(4)

Sunitha and her partner managed to win first set against top seed Chinese but they couldn't converted that in to win.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R2] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) vs Olga Savchuk (UKR,96)

Doubles -
[R1] (7) Sania Mirza (IND)/ Bethanie Mattek (USA) bt Klaudia Jans (POL)/ Gabriela Navratilova (CZE) 63 62

Good start in doubles with easy victory ... In singles Sania is playing against Olga Savchuk, whom she defeated in 2007 Australian Open.
-------------------------------------------
At $3.589M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (6) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) vs KAS Christopher (GER)/ WASSEN Rogier (NED)

[R1] (8) HANLEY Paul (AUS)/PAES Leander (IND) vs FERRER David (ESP)/ NADAL Rafael (ESP)

Lee and Paul having tough and tricky first round match against Rafa and Ferrer.
-------------------------------------------
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India

Singles Quarter-Finals -
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) 36 61 64
(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) 67(5) 63 63

(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt (PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) 64 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) 75 62

Doubles Semi-Finals -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) 75 63

(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt (4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) 75 75

Creditable performance from Sunitha considering her health condition (stomach bug) though she lost good opportunity to win her first singles $50K Challenger title.

But in doubles Sunitha is in final with Vedy to face top seed Chinese pair.
-------------------------------------------
At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

[R2] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) bt (Q) TASSART Antoine (FRA,920) 76(3) 36 61

[QF] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) vs (1) MIDDELKOOP Matwe (NED,259)

Karan match was postponed due to rain, today he scored 3 sets victory over Frenchman ... Good to see one sided score in third set after losing second ... Now he will play against Dutch top seed in quarters ... Go Karan.
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At $10K Canada F2, Montreal

[R1] (1) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,419) l (WC) POSPISIL Vasek (CAN,1495) 26 36
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Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel

[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Shruti KURIAN (IND) l Vita MARISSSA (INA)/ Liliyana NATSIR (INA) 18-21 17-21

[R2] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) vs (7) Taufik HIDAYAT (INA,7)
[R2] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) vs (1) Xingfang XIE (CHN,1)

Interesting to see, can Anup repeat his last time win against Hidayat and also Saina's performance against WR # 1 to see how much she progressed.
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Golf News -
At Ballantine's Championship, Jeju Island, South Korea - First Round (EPGA Tour)

T3 RANDHAWA Jyoti 68 -4
T3 SINGH Jeev Milkha 68 -4
T63 GHEI Gaurav 72 Par
T98 KAPUR Shiv 74 +2

Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel

[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) bt Shoji SATO (JPN,17) 22-20 13-21 21-14

[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) bt Anna RICE (CAN,24) 21-13 21-13

Anup responded with good hard fighting win over top seed Japanese player ... This 55 mins match was close one as Anup won 56 rallies and Sato won 55 ... Anup's next round opponent is still to decide but mostly Olympics champion 7th seed Taufik Hidayat will be his opponent.

After longtime, frankly I feel like ages ... ;), Saina scored win over higher rank opponent and thats also in Super Series ... Next round her opponent will be Chinese WR #1 Xingfang Xie ... It would be great learning experiance for Saina.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (7) Sania Mirza (IND) / Bethanie Mattek (USA) vs Klaudia Jans (POL)/ Gabriela Navratilova (CZE)

In doubles Sania is partnering American Bethanie Mattek ... They r 7th seed pair.
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At $50K Delhi Challenger, India

Singles Second Round -
Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) bt Andrea Hlavacova (CZE,229) 57 63 62
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt (Q) Montinee Tangphong (THA,461) 63 61

(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt (Q) Kristina Antoniychuk (UKR,389) 76(5) 61
(6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) bt (WC) Ankita Bhambri (IND,542) 57 63 62

(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt Lenka Tvarošková (SVK,294) 57 64 61
(PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) bt Isha Lakhani (IND,353) 62 64

(7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) bt Teodora Mircic (SRB,282) 61 63
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt (2) Mathilde Johansson (FRA,128) 63 61

Doubles Quarter-Finals -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt (WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita BHAMBRI (IND) 76(5) 63

(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Ivana LISJAK (CRO)/ Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL) W/O

(4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) bt (Q) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ Yan-Chong CHEN (CHN) 76(1) 26 10(7)

(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) 61 64

Ankita won first set against top-200 player buth then lost next 2 quite easily.

Sunitha produced another solid performance to beat her Serbian opponent ... So now only Sunitha is keeing Indian interest in singles and with Uberoi sis in doubles.
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Football News -
At AFC Cup 2008
Group B - Round 1

Safa SC (LEB) bt East Bengal (IND) 1-0

Goal Scored - Rafael Mbassi (SSC) 17'

East Bengal showed fighting performance, but couldn't converted in to win.

Badminton News -
At $200K Wilson Swiss Super Series, Basel

[Q1] Arvind BHAT (IND,43) l Yu Hsin HSIEH (TPE,51) 12-21 18-21
[Q1] Chetan ANAND (IND,54) bt (3) Marc ZWIEBLER (GER,31) 14-21 21-12 21-16

[Q2] Chetan ANAND (IND,54) l Petr KOUKAL (CZE,39) 16-21 19-21

Maindraw -
[R1] Anup SRIDHAR (IND,30) vs Shoji SATO (JPN,17)

[R1] Saina NEHWAL (IND,29) vs Anna RICE (CAN,24)

[R1] Jwala GUTTA (IND)/ Shruti KURIAN (IND) vs Vita MARISSSA (INA)/ Liliyana NATSIR (INA)

This is 3rd Super Series event of the year ... Hopefully our players improve their performance in Super Series with this Basel event.
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Football News -
At AFC Cup 2008
Group A - Round 1, Goa

Dempo Sc (IND) bt Al Ansar (LEB) 3-1

Goal Scored - Ranty Martins Soleye (DSC) 21' & 32', Chidi Edeh (DSC) 62' and Hassan Danash (AlA) 89'

Good start for I-League Champion Dempo ... Captain Ranty lead from the front and scored 2 goals in 10 mins ... East Bengal's will play their group match later in the day.

Tennis News -
At $2.1M Pacific Life Open, Indian Wells, USA

[R1] (21) Sania Mirza (IND,32) Bye

Indian Wells draw is out and Sania is 21st seeded ... She is having first round bye and in second round she will meet winner between Ukranian Olga Savchuk and Russian Yaroslava Shvedova ... Sania having 1-0 record against Olga and 1-1 record against Shvedova.

If Sania wins her second round match then she can meet 9th seed Shahar Peer in 3rd round, 5th seed Daniela Hantuchova in 4th round and 4th seed Maria Sharapova in quarters ... But all these matches r long shot before that she needs to win her second round match ... :)
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At $15K Ivory Coast F2, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

[R1] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) bt (Q) STOLIAROV Andrei (RUS,1495) 62 61

[R2] (5) RASTOGI Karan (IND,512) vs (Q) TASSART Antoine (FRA,920)
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At $10K Canada F2, Montreal

[R1] (1) SIPAEYA Sunil-Kumar (IND,419) vs (WC) POSPISIL Vasek (CAN,1495)

Tennis News -
At $50K Delhi Challenger, India

Singles First Round -
Andrea Hlavacova (CZE,229) bt (1) Andreja Klepac (SLO,130) 61 62
Carmen Klaschka (GER,309) bt Magda Mihalache (ROU,256) 63 63
(Q) Montinee Tangphong (THA,461) bt (WC) Shikha Uberoi (IND,955) 63 63
(8) Naomi Cavaday (GBR,191) bt Sandy Gumulya (INA,245) 62 60

(4) Yanina Wickmayer (BEL,152) bt Iroda Tulyaganova (UZB,307) 76(5) 64
(Q) Kristina Antoniychuk (UKR,389) bt (Q) Suchanun Viratprasert (THA,536) 36 75 61
(WC) Ankita Bhambri (IND,542) bt Ivana Lisjak (CRO,213) 63 1-0 Retd
(6) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA,181) bt Veronika Chvojkova (CZE,281) 64 57 64

(5) Margit Rüütel (EST,180) bt (WC) Rushmi Chakravarthi (IND,475) 60 63
Lenka Tvarošková (SVK,294) bt (Q) Lisa Sabino (ITA,379) 76(5) 57 62
(PR) Anikó Kapros (HUN,523) bt Anastasija Sevastova (LAT,268) 76(5) 76(4)
(WC) Isha Lakhani (IND,353) bt (3) Vesna Manasieva (RUS,144) 63 Retd.

(7) Sunitha Rao (IND,175) bt Ksenia Palkina (KGZ,318) 64 64
Teodora Mirčić (SRB,282) bt (PR) Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU,429) 61 75
Ekateryna Dzehalevich (BLR,208) bt Corinna Dentoni (ITA,192) 64 64
(2) Mathilde Johansson (FRA,128) bt Anastasia Poltoratskaya (RUS,295) 62 63

Doubles First Round -
(1) Chun-Mei JI (CHN)/ Sheng-Nan SUN (CHN) bt Mihaela BUZARNESCU (ROU)/ Carmen KLASCHKA (GER) 64 61
(WC) Sanaa BHAMBRI (IND)/ Ankita BHAMBRI (IND) bt Sandy GUMULYA (INA)/ Isha LAKHANI (IND) 63 75

Ivana LISJAK (CRO)/ Yanina WICKMAYER (BEL) bt (3) Ekateryna DZEHALEVICH (BLR)/ Vesna MANASIEVA (RUS) W/O
(WC) Neha UBEROI (USA)/ Shikha UBEROI (IND) bt Kelly ANDERSON (RSA)/ Chanelle SCHEEPERS (RSA) 36 63 10(8)

(Q) Rushmi CHAKRAVARTHI (IND)/ Yan-Chong CHEN (CHN) bt Debbrich FEYS (BEL)/ Pemra OZGEN (TUR) 63 76(1)
(4) Veronika CHVOJKOVA (CZE)/ Andrea HLAVACKOVA (CZE) bt Parul GOSWAMI (IND)/ Nicola MOONEY (GBR) 62 62

Teodora MIRCIC (SRB)/ Lenka TVAROSKOVA (SVK) bt Andreja KLEPAC (SLO)/ Margit RUUTEL (EST) 63 10 Retd
(2) Sunitha RAO (IND)/ Aurelie VEDY (FRA) bt Wan-Ting LIU (CHN)/ Yi-Jing ZHAO (CHN) 75 64

Today 2 retirements and both against Indian players ... More importantly in their respective matches Ankita and Isha won first set against their formidable opponents.

Sunitha won easily against tricky Ksenia Palkina ... Top seed Klepac lost in one-sided match, yesterday she retired from her doubles match so mostly she didn't recover fully from her injury in today's single match.

Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile

Final - India l Great Britain 0-2 (0-2)
Goal Scored - Barry Middleton 4', Richard Mantell (PC) 10'

3rd place – Russia bt Austria 6-3 (4-1)

5th place - Chile bt Mexico 9-3 (5-2)

Today is a Doomsday for Indian hockey … Our hockey team achieved such a feat that not any other Indian team managed to achieve that in last 80 years … Don’t know whom to blame about this fiasco our team, coach Joaquim Carvalho or KPS Gill and Jothikumaran … In my view all r equally responsible for this state of hockey … FIH appointed Australian Ric Charlesworth to help us out … But our bureaucrats and (importantly) coach Joaquim Carvalho wasn’t ready to accept his help thinking they were having great plan (?) to revive Indian hockey … They even tried and were successful that for important tournaments like this Olympics qualifier and Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament , Ric couldn’t reach.

This was expected result after watching our round-robin matches ... In those matches we showed poor execution of plan (or lack of plan) with stupid mistakes ... But still there was some hope of miracle.

Now usual stuff will begins like resignation of coaches, captain and retirement of some players … But that doesn’t help us until our top hockey brass remain on their position … If we really want to revive hockey and plan for 2012 Olympics then we should start from removing current IHF body and start building young team ( like Malaysia).

Golf News -
At Maybank Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur - Final Standing

1 ATWAL Arjun 70 68 68 64 -18 $333,330
T6 RANDHAWA Jyoti 67 65 70 71 -15 $ 56,200
T37 GHEI Gaurav 67 71 72 70 - 8 $ 13,600
T46 CHOWRASIAS.S.P 66 73 69 74 - 6 $ 9,600

Mission accomplished for Arjun!!!

Arjun only planned to play in India and his favorite tournaments on Asian (EPGA) tour to get confidence and momentum before crucial Nationwide tournaments in hunt of securing PGA Tour card for season 2009 … But he achieve more than what he imagined before coming to Asian Odyssey with winning his second Malaysian Open title which he also won in 2003 which grab him European tour card for next 2 seasons … Simply amazing and unbelievable.

Arjun Atwal - “It is an amazing feeling. I don’t know how to put it into words. To come here and win this title twice now is incredible. On the first play-off hole I thought Peter Hedblom was in trouble off the tee but he played an amazing recovery and that put the pressure on me.

I didn’t think I had a chance starting fourth round and just relaxed from the first hole. It was only on the 11th I felt I had a chance. It is incredible.”

Hockey News -
At 2008 Olympic Qualifier, Santiago, Chile

India bt Chile 4-1 (3-0)

Goal Scored -
India - Prabhjot Singh 9', V.R. Raghunath 23' & (PC) 61', Bharath 24'
Chile - Felipe Montegu (PC) 64'

Other Matches -
Great Britain bt Austria 4-0
Russia bt Mexico 9-1

Again Indian team failed to impress with their game or game plan ... Same old problems of poor marking, unnecessary hitting, faulty ball traping and poor passing ... Indian team need lot more improvement if we really want to qualify for Olympics.
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Badminton News -
At $5K Croatian International 2008, Zagreb

[SF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) l (Q) Kaori IMABEPPU (JPN,139)

[SF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Vladimir METODIEV (BUL)/ Krasimir YANKOV (BUL) 21-5 21-6
[SF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) l Jakub BITMAN (CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO) 21-15 14-21 21-19

[F] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Jakub BITMAN (CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO) 21-9 21-14

Kaori scored surprisng win over Aditi ... But Rupesh and Sanave performed as per their ranking to win Croatian International title.

Tennis News -
At $1.401M Dubai Tennis Championships, UAE

[F] (4) BHUPATHI Mahesh (IND)/ KNOWLES Mark (BAH) bt (3) Martin DAMM (CZE)/ Pavel VIZNER (CZE) 75 76(7)

Excellent quality match between these 2 teams ... Both teams fought until end without giving much to other team ... Frankly it was difficult to mentioned who had bad day, both teams were deserve to win ... Mark and Hesh increased their game level few notches when required that was difference between these teams.

Damm and Vizner saved 2 match points in tie-break but Mark and Hesh managed to convert 3rd ... Simply high quality doubles match.
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Badminton News -
At $5K Croatian International 2008, Zagreb

[QF] Anand PAWAR (IND,111) l Ville LANG (FIN,88) 21-15 18-21 13-21
[QF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) bt (Q) Patty STOLZENBACH (NED,113) 21-19 21-13

[R2] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) bt Konstantin DOBREV (BUL)/ Stiliyan MAKARSKI (BUL) 21-16 21-12
[R2] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Rene NICHTERWITZ (AUT)/ David OBERNOSTERER (AUT) 21-6 21-12

[QF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) bt Dave KHODABUX (NED)/ Lester OEY (NED) 21-12 21-16
[QF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) bt Martin BEYER (DEN)/ Maxime RENAULT (FRA) 21-11 21-16

[SF] Aditi MUTATKAR (IND,89) vs (Q) Kaori IMABEPPU (JPN,139)

[SF] (1) Rupesh KUMAR (IND)/ Sanave THOMAS (IND) vs Vladimir METODIEV (BUL)/ Krasimir YANKOV (BUL)
[SF] Akshay DEWALKAR (IND)/ Diju V (IND) vs Jakub BITMAN CZE)/ Zvonimir ÐURKINJAK (CRO)

Anand couldn't convert good start in to the win ... But Aditi taking full advantage of weak draw, now in the semis she is playing another qualifier, who defeated 2nd seed top-45 European player in first round.

In doubles both teams r on course of meeting in the final, now need another one win to meet in the final.

Chess News -
At Morelia-Linares 2008, Mexico & Spain

Round 14 - Friday, March 7th
Anand ½-½ Veselin Topalov
Peter Leko ½-½ Levon Aronian
Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Teimour Radjabov
Alexei Shirov ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk


Final Standing after 14 Rounds -
1 Vishwanathan Anand IND 8½ pts
2 Magnus Carlsen NOR 8 pts
T3 Levon Aronian ARM 7½ pts
T3 Veselin Topalov BUL 7½ pts
5 Teimour Radjabov AZE 7 pts
6 Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 6½ pts
T7 Peter Leko HUN 5½ pts
T7 Alexei Shirov ESP 5½ pts

Anand played 23 moves quick draw against Topalov ... And as all other games ended in draw including 69 moves Carlsen and Radjabov match, Anand retained his ½ pt advantage to win Morelia-Linares Championship title.

This was Anand's 3rd Linares title and Anand became only 2nd player after Garry Kasparov, who defended his title successfully.
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Tennis News -
At $15K Ivory Coast F1, Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire

[QF] (7) RASTOGI Karan (IND,514) l SANON Valentin (CIV,629) 67(4) 61 16

Doubles -
[SF] (1) RASTOGI Karan (IND)/ SATSCHKO Alexander (GER) l BELYAEV Ilya (RUS)/ KROTIOUK Sergei (RUS) 62 67(5) (12)14

Karan gave fight to ex-top 300 player, Sanon, who is doing comeback after injury break ... In doubles also Karan and Alexander missed opportunity to finish the match in 2nd set only.